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PACKAGING & MERCHANDISING DESIGN | FINAL PROJECT




10/06/19 - 08/07/19 | Week 11  - Week 15
Yeoh Xiao Shi (0331577)
Packaging & Merchandising Design
Final Project


LECTURE

Lecture 10 : Merchandising & Visual Merchandising Design 
17/06/19 (Week 12 )

In this week's class, my group was assigned to present on the topic of merchandising and visual merchandising design. Through the process of researching and preparing the presentation, I faced lots of difficulties to find more information about the topic given. However, I still managed to have a better understanding of merchandising as well as visual merchandising design at last. 

Merchandising is basically the planning and promotion of sales by presenting a product to the right market at a proper time. The types of merchandising includes product merchandising, retail merchandising, digital merchandising, omnichannel merchandising and visual merchandising. To discuss more about visual merchandising, it is the aesthetic display of the merchandise to attract potential consumers to buy. The examples of it include display window, store layout, product displays and point of purchase display. Whereas, the example of visual merchandising design includes mannequins, lighting design, cross-merchandising and seasonal displays. It is said to be important as it helps to create brand awareness, get the intention of consumer, brings the target customer and increase brand loyalty. 


Embedded PDF of week 12 lecture slides.


INSTRUCTIONS


* The brief of the final project has been updated. We will be collaborating with the Interior Architecture students to carry on this project. We have to design three merchandise and one packaging to hold the merchandise for the brand that the BIA students have designed for their branding class. The merchandise should reflect the brand and have consistency in the design. 


FINAL PROJECT 
Merchandising and Packaging (Week 11 - Week 15)

Week 11 (10/06/19)
This week, we were briefed and introduced to our final project in which we were required to collaborate with the Interior Architecture students. The students will act as our clients by providing us the concepts of the space they wanted to design and a copy of the draft of their logo. As for us, we will be playing the role of the designer to refine the logo as well as to come up with three merchandise and one packaging to hold it. 

In class, we were arranged to meet with the students and assigned to our partners. I have teamed up with Jane who will be designing a space for an ice cream shop. From her explanation, I understand that there will be four main flavors of ice cream in her shop which are sweet, sour, salt and bitter. Hence, I would need to think about it when designing the merchandise. Back home, I also started to think of the possible merchandise and come up with a list. 


Fig.1.1: Skectches from Jane.


Fig.1.2: Sketches from Jane.


Fig.1.3: Jane's idea for the merchandise. 


Fig.1.4: List of possible merchandise.


Week 12 (17/06/19)
For this week, I continued to think of the merchandise and browse through some visual references for it. At last, I decided to go with a notebook, stickers, tote bag and badges. Meanwhile, I also start to think about the packaging to hold the merchandise and search for some references.

Here are some images showing the references below :
Fig.2.1: Visual references.


Fig.2.2: Pattern references.


Fig.2.3: Pattern references.


Fig.2.4: Merchandise references.


Fig.2.5: Merchandise references.


Fig.2.6: Merchandise references.


Fig.2.7: Merchandise references.


Fig.2.8: Packaging references.


Fig.2.9: Packaging references.


Fig.2.10: Packaging references. 


Week 13 - Week 14 (24/06/19 - 01/07/19 )
In these two weeks, I started to refine the logo given by Jane and I manage to show her after a few explorations. She said that she preferred the last two design, hence I decided to choose one of it and refine again. Once the logo is finalized, I moved on to come up with my own color palette and pattern that will be used across the merchandise. Other than that, I also try to mockup the merchandise to see how it will look before moving on to the stage of production.

After finalizing all the merchandise, I proceeded to execute them and create the mockup for the packaging to hold them. The first attempt of the packaging was failed due to the wrong measurement. Thus, I decided to try again by making another one. Moving on from that, I began to digitize the dieline in Adobe Illustrator as well as designing the packaging.

Here are some images showing the progression below :

 Logo Design

Fig.3.1: Logo exploration.


Fig.3.2: Final logo. (black & white)


Fig.3.3: Logo colour.


Fig.3.4: Logo typeface. 


Fig.3.5: Final logo. (colour)


Merchandising Design


Fig.4.1: Main colour used for the merchandise. 


Fig.4.2: Pattern design.


Fig.4.3: Process of designing the notebook. 


Fig.4.4: Notebook design 1.


Fig.4.5: Notebook design 2.


Fig.4.6: Notebook design 3.


Fig.4.7: Notebook design 4.


Fig.4.8: Notebooks mockup.


Fig.4.9: Process of designing the stickers. 


Fig.4.10: Stickers design.


Fig.4.11: Stickers mockup.


Fig.4.12: Process of designing the tote bag. 

Fig.4.13: Tote bag design.


Fig.4.14: Tote bag mockup.


Fig.4.15: Process of desigining the badges.


Fig.4.16: Badges design.


Fig.4.17: Badges mockup.


Packaging Design


Fig.5.1: Dieline sketches with measurement.


Fig.5.2: Process of creating the mockup.


Fig.5.3: Process of creating the mockup.


Fig.5.4: Outcome of the mockup. (first attempt)


Fig.5.5: Outcome of the mockup. (first attempt)


Fig.5.6: Outcome of the mockup. (second attempt)


Fig.5.7: Outcome of the mockup. (second attempt)


Fig.5.8: Process of illustrating the dieline in Adobe Illustrator. 


Fig.5.9: Dieline of the gable box. (finalised)


Fig.5.10: Process of designing the gable box.


Fig.5.11: Gable box design.


Fig.5.12: Gable box design mockup.


Fig.5.13: Gable box design mockup.


Week 15 (08/07/19)
This week is the submission week of the final project and I'm finally done with it after spending a lot of time in designing, printing, and assembling. Here is the final submission of this project below.

Final Submission :

Merchandise


Fig.6.1: Notebooks.


Fig.6.2: Notebooks.


Fig.6.3: Notebooks.


Fig.6.4: Stickers.


Fig.6.5: Stickers.


Fig.6.6: Tote bag.


Fig.6.7: Tote bag.


Fig.6.8: Badges.


Fig.6.9: Badges.


Fig.6.10: Compilation of the merchandise.


Fig.6.11: Compilation of the merchandise.


Packaging


Fig.6.12: Gable box packaging.


Fig.6.13: Gable box packaging.


Fig.6.14: Gable box packaging.


Fig.6.15: Gable box packaging.


Fig.6.16: Merchandise in the gable box.


Compilation in PDF file


Embedded PDF of the compilation of final project.


FEEDBACK

Week 11
General Feedback : No general feedback given for this project this week.
Specific Feedback : No specific feedback as the brief was just given this week.

Week 12 
General Feedback : No general feedback given for this project this week.
Specific Feedback : The visual references are good. For the pattern, use the first two as the references and try to make it simple. If possible, try to come up with some design to be reviewed in the next consultation.

Week 13
General Feedback : No general feedback given for this project this week.
Specific Feedback : No specific feedback received as I was absent to the consultation.

Week 14 
General Feedback : No general feedback given for this project this week.
Specific Feedback : The logo looks okay and now I have to figure out the color for the logo. The pattern looks fine but tries not to use too many elements in the design. 


REFLECTION

Experiences :
Week 11 : This week, we were given a brief on the final project which we need to collaborate with the Interior Architecture students to come up with three merchandise and one packaging for the brand that they will be designing in their branding class. To start off, I manage to meet with my partner, Jane and have a consultation with her. Then, I started to think of the merchandise that will suit for her brand. 
Week 12 : For this week, I still thinking of the merchandise and search up some visual references for it. While researching, I manage to have a clearer idea of the merchandise I want to go with. As for the packaging, I'm still uncertain about which packaging structure to use. Hence, I decided to look up for some references first. 
Week 13 : This week, I began to work on the logo by refining the one given by Jane. After a few explorations, I sent it to Jane for some feedback. 
Week 14 : This week, I proceeded to design the merchandise and packaging by creating my own color palette and pattern. Also, I manage to create the mockup of the merchandise and packaging before moving on to execute them. It was kinda rush as I need to complete the design in a few days for printing. 

Observations :

Week 11 : I observed that it is important for me to consult with my partner to understand her preferences and desired outcomes of the design before carrying on the project. 
Week 12 : While researching, I realised there is a lot of merchandise I can go with for the ice cream brand. However, I have limited time to find places to print the merchandise. Hence, I needed to narrow down my ideas. 
Week 13 : I noticed that my progress on this project is a bit too slow as compared to my classmate. Hence, I need to work more faster in order to catch up.
Week 14 : I observed that I have used the same material which is art card in all the projects for this module. At this point, I feel really disappointed as I didn't manage to explore with other materials due to the limited time I have. Thus, I hope there will be other chances for me to explore more on the packaging materials in the future. 

Findings :

Week 11 : I found this project to be fun and interesting as I could design the merchandise and packaging for an ice cream brand which I always wanted to try with. In addition, I could also have the experience of working with the client through this project.
Week 12 : I found that browsing through different visual references did help me a lot in coming up the ideas as well as giving me a clearer direction of what I wanted to do for this project.
Week 13 : I found that I had trouble coming up with a good logo in a short period of time as I couldn't keep refining it until it reaches my expectations.
Week 14 : I found that good time management is really important for a design student to complete the work on time. Also, I realized I have put too much effort and time into other projects and causes the lack of time to carry on this project. Hence, the outcome is not as good as I expected. 


FURTHER READING (WEEK 11-15)

Week 11

Nowadays, the average modern supermarket holds a stock of different products and we need to stand out from all of them in this competitive market. Hence, this article has discussed the 7 key aspects that need to be considered and employed in order to make the product stand out and fly off the shelf.

01. Clarity and Brevity 
  •   make sure the packaging is crystal clear about what is inside 
  •   make sure the brand is clearly identified 
  •   clearly describe how what the product fo or how people should use them

02. Originality 
  •   appearing different than others
  •   if the others use photography, consider using graphics
  •   if the others are focused on a contemporary look, choose to go retro
  •   zig when others zag

03. Credibility 
  •   make sure the image on the packaging matches what's inside

04. Shelf Context 
  •   do digital renders of how the product will look on the shelf, in context
  •   would be better if have a group of samples made up and test them in a real setting

05. Extendibility 
  •  make sure to create a systematic design where visuals or text can easily be swapped when scaling, whilst retaining and supporting the original brand

06. Functionality 
  •   makes the product more convenient for the consumer will help the product to stand out
  •   for example, glass mayo bottles being replaced with upside-down plastic squeezable versions

07. POS support 
  •  great packaging should certainly stand on its own merits, but it never hurts to get a little help
  •  setting up point of sale will be a great way of bringing the attention of the consumer to the brand especially if the product is new launch or a radical rebrand


Week 12

Article: Going Green with Minimalist Packaging Design
By: Mark Velarga

The terms 'sustainable' and 'green' are not new when it comes to packaging. In fact, over the last 10 years, the entire supply chain has been demanding for sustainable and green packaging with minimalist packaging design. 

To achive minimal packaging, type of material is one of the elements that need to be thought of. Some examples of the material that is best for minimal packaging were also shown in the article and this includes paper, kraft paper and SBS (Solide Bleached Sulfate) paperboards. Paper is the largest material type in the packaging market. It is not only cheaper but also more sustastainanle comapred with molded plastic. In addition, it causes little to no damage to the environment and can be reused and repurposed. On the contrary, kraft paper is produced from 100% virgin fiber paper during the kraft process. It is renewable, biodegradable, recyclable and compostable. Lastly, SBS paper boards are produced from bleached virgin wood pulp and normally contain mineral or synthetic pigment as a coating. It is perfectly white inside and out, making it an excellent packaging material. Also, it can be cut, creased, hot foil stamped and embossed.

Minimalism in packaging means pairing down packaging materials and also pairing down the visual aspects of the design. Minimalist designs could prevent consumers from being distracted from the central focus of the packaging and convey a highly targeted brand message in an instantly understandable way. It could also drive the consumers to reuse and recylcle the product packaging rather than throwing them away. 

Moreover, the goal of minimalist packaging is to save raw materials and eliminate waste without compromising the durability or funcationality of the packaging. Thus, packaging structure also needs to be considered. The packaging should be able to perform its duty of protecting the products and conveying the message of the brand. Regardless of the structure chosen for the packaging, the key is to keep dimensions as minimal as possible to save materials. The common minimalist packaging strcutures include tuck and boxes, mailer boxes and pillow boxes. 

Lastly, minimalist coating options. Apart from increasing the packaging's asthetic and haptic appeal, a coating is done to make the packaging dirt resistant. It ensures that the packaging is able to withstand frequent touching and handling. However, it is recommended to not use any type of coating when producing sustainble packaging as to limit chemicals on the material as much as possible. If it is absolutely necessary to coat on the packaging, AQ coating is considered to be the most environmental-friendly coating amongst the others.  It is not only affordable but it is completely water-based.


Week 13

Article: What are the Most Important Elements of Visual Merchandising
By: B Displayed

Visual merchandising plays an important role in increasing business sales and this article discusses the important elements of it. According to the author, it is easy to implement and it won't cost a lot. Strong visual merchandising could also bring a huge impact on customer experience.

First and foremost, color is important in visual displays as it can make or break a promotional appearance. A retailer might create an erratic display, but if the colors coordinate well, the display can still be a success. Consider using contrasting shades, like black and white and monochromatic colors to create intriguing and eye-catching displays. Moreover, create a focal point by avoiding too much information on one visual display. Categorize the items and create a hotspot or focal point. Also, examine the display from the customer's point of view. Other than that, it is important to make the customers feel that they are special. This could be achieved by using powerful, sales-enabling signage to display the advantages of buying the product. By telling a story, the customer will have a better understanding of the product and enable the buying decision. Lastly, expose customers to the maximum amount of merchandise. The more products customers see, the more they buy. Therefore, have as many displays as possible and enabling the customers to view each of the specialties.


Week 14
Article: The importance of Package Design - How it affects your brand story.
By: Mark Beebe

This article discusses the importance of package design to the brand. When it comes to the visual identity of the brand, consistency is important to help to strengthen the brand identity. As such, the packaging of the products plays an important role in gaining recognition of the brand. If the packaging design is consistent with the brand, people who are already familiar with it will be able to identify it right away. This makes the brand as well as the product to stand out from the crowd. 

Using visual elements of the brand in package design is important. How it looks like on the shelf can tell consumers more about what the product is. Hence, there are some aspects the designer needs to take into consideration when designing a package. Firstly, targeting the audience. For example, packaging for kid products often uses large, bold typography and a colorful style, while products targeting career-oriented adults may use more elegant typography in more minimal design. Next, conveying an experience. The package design should reflect the experience of the product. For example, an eco-friendly product should probably be packaged using sustainable materials in order to build the trust of the consumers to the product. Lastly, creating an aesthetically pleasing design. It is said that the consumers tend to judge books by their covers, When they see that a brand has put effort into creating a visually pleasing package, they will assume that this is reflective of the brand's effort to create a high-quality product. Therefore, the package design needs to have a huge impact on brand identity and vice versa. It should help to spread awareness of the brand, target the audience, and speak to the personality of the brand. 


Week 15

Article: Five trends in packaging design.
By: Margot Boyer-Dry

When branding appeared in the late 19th century, packaging exploded in complexity: its shape and material reflected the era's most cutting-edge ways to hold and transport goods, while brand messaging on the packages touched on the zeitgeist. At any point in history, there is a lot to be learned about society by simply examining its packaging design. In this article, the author has discussed the five trends of packaging running across the consumer categories in the year 2019.

01. The sustainability trend
  •   using more environmetally friendly materials in the packaging
  •   using reusable packaging 
  •   consumers and brands are doubling down efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle.

02. The minimalism-plus trend 
  •   not a must to be a white packaging
  •   can be colourful but basic 

03. The maximalism trend
  •   incorporating as many frills, flourishes and clashing patterns in the design 
  •   to evoke a sense of personality
  •   easily to be remeber as they stand out 

04. Speaking of memory : The nostalgia trend 
  •   packaging romanticizes moments in the past
  •   vintage aesthethic 

05. The tactile design trend
  •   incorporates wonky shapes and textures to look playful 
  •   with the interesting textures and shapes, it makes the whole experience memorable 


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